Comparing The Hero In The Hero With A Thousand Faces By Joseph Campbell

When you think of a hero you probably imagine a man in a bright spandex suit and cape saving the world from a super villain, but that’s not always the case. The Hero With a Thousand Faces, written by Joseph Campbell, describes the journey of the archetypal hero found in the world’s mythologies, but it also applies to real life people as well. Not every journey a hero encounters has the same challenges and feats that they undergo through life, and definitely not all of them are in high spirits. The famous actor Keanu Reeves has traversed the archetypal hero’s journey.

In his book, Joseph Campbell states that all heroes begin their journey in an ordinary world and that they must break the mold and go against everything that they know. Campbell

The character Ted Logan is one of two wacky characters that travel through time. This movie would cause everyone to confuse Keanu’s real-life personality with his on-screen doofy counterpart. Heroes will also be challenged by life and, “...must survive a succession of trials…” (Campbell) to test their strength and resolve as a hero. This is seen in Keanu’s life over the for the next decade as he is affected by the bad choices that are made by the people around him. Keanu would then spend the next few years trying to shake off his wacky counterpart by playing serious roles in movies, this lead him to meeting River Phoenix while acting with him for the film My Own Private Idaho. Keanu and River became best friends during this time, doing everything they could together, but it didn’t last long. River Phoenix later died of a combined drug intoxication outside of a nightclub. This tragedy never phased Keanu though, there are points in his career in which he has decided to do what makes him happy rather than what the normal person would do. This is a staple act for heroes because most people would put themselves before other, but that’s not the case for Keanu. For instance, he turned down a contract to perform the same role in a sequel of the movie Speed. He chose to rather participate in a theatre version of Hamlet. The contract for Speed was $11 million dollars, but he stayed true to himself and performed for 750 people instead. Keanu continued playing serious roles to help people realize he wasn’t the goofball people thought he was by playing the role of a lawyer in the film The Devil’s Advocate In the film, Reeve’s character is supposed to defend people that have obviously done wrong. To make his performance more realistic and understand the mannerisms of being a lawyer, he shadowed a real defense attorney for months and it paid off (Worldation 2016). The movie was a